A modern musical can be discussed as a specific form of the musical genre which differs from the classical Hollywood musical, but which can also be discussed and analyzed according to Rick Altman’s semantic-syntactic model. From this point, it is necessary to refer to such a modern musical as Once (2006) directed by John Carney and to feature Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova as the main characters, the Guy and the Girl1.
Although Once is the low-budget modern Irish musical, this film can be examined about its genre, semantic elements, and specific syntactic structure. In spite of the fact that many modern musicals depart from traditional Altman’s model, Once conforms to the model in many aspects because the musical’s semantics is correlated with the traditional principles, except the focus on the sub-genre; the syntactic structure of the musical addresses the idea of focusing on the life goal.
The opposition of values within the couple serves to accentuate the themes of family, immigration, and poverty; and the musical numbers are properly integrated into the plot to emphasize the characters’ feelings and thoughts.
While referring to Altman’s model as the basis for the discussion of Once, it is necessary to analyze such semantic elements as the musical’s characters, setting, events, acting, and sound. The main characters of Once are the Guy and the Girl performed by musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. The Guy is a busker who plays guitar on the streets of Dublin, and the Girl is the Czech immigrant who sells flowers.
While focusing on the principles of the musical genre, the Guy and the Girl can be discussed as a romantic couple in society2. Although it is rather difficult to discuss Once within the context of three musical sub-genres, the film most resembles the show combined with the folk because of the role of setting in the musical. The streets of Dublin play a key role in the story of a couple who dreams about becoming recognized because of their music.
All the events develop in Dublin, and the characters talk a lot about life in London. The characters’ goal is to record their songs, and these events are correlated with the show sub-genre when the characters’ path to the success resembles the development of the folk story.
Referring to the ritual function of genre in Once, it is necessary to note that the director discusses the class as the barrier to the world of professional music for the Guy, but both the characters belong to the low-income social category, and they unite to overcome poverty to make a dream come true.
Even though the character’s actions depend on Guy’s dream, the Girl is more active and decisive because of her experience and desire to overcome obstacles. Focusing on acting, it is important to note that the musical depends on realistic movement instead of developing the idea of rhythmic movement. That is why the sound as the mixture of diegetic music in songs and dialogue is important to develop the musical plot as the real story.
To understand John Carney’s approach to developing Once as the modern musical, it is necessary to refer to the musical’s generic syntax. While referring to the dual-focus narrative strategy, it is important to note that the Guy and the Girl represent different cultural values depending on their social status and lifestyle. The Girl is Czech, and the Guy is the Irish, but nationality does not play as the fundament for the conflict between the woman and man who unite to fight the poverty and limitations.
The role of sexuality is also subtle in the musical because the characters’ actions are based on the romantic nature of their feelings. From this point, the musical does not reinforce stereotypes regarding the race and gender oppositions, but the opposition between the characters is based on the visions of values as well as on the vision of nature and character of sexual and romantic relations. Thus, the Guy is the busker who dreams about recording his songs and moving to London.
The Girl is the Czech immigrant who has the family and hopes for the better future for her child in Dublin3. Even though the characters share the same interests regarding music, they have different values regarding family and life goals. The characters’ relations can also be discussed with references to the analysis of the couple/plot parallelism.
The Guy and the Girl meet when the busker needs help with recording his songs, and the Girl needs some inspiration to cope with the difficulties in her personal life. As a result of the couple’s creation, the Guy and the Girl achieves the climax of recording the songs and recognizing their success as musicians.
Regarding the music/plot relationship, the Guy and the Girl’s songs are the representations of their inner feelings and emotions. Singing, the main characters talk their personal feelings to each other and the whole world. However, the songs also serve as the presentations of the characters’ victory over the barriers and life obstacles.
Songs are used in the musical to add to the film’s content instead of substituting it4. Adding to the discussion of the music/plot relationship, it is necessary to concentrate on the narrative/number relationship presented in Once. Dialogues play an important role in the musical film, and the musical numbers are carefully integrated into the plot as the songs performed by the main characters because they are musicians and as the representations of their thoughts and feelings.
This relationship affects the image/sound relationship where images are over the sound, and the audio dissolves are observed not only in the climactic moments of the musical. Thus, the important audio dissolve is observed when the Guy sings a song about his feelings to his girl on a bus instead of telling a story.
The use of the acoustic guitar adds more realism to the situation, and the use of the song instead of words contributes to representing the character’s inner world. One more remarkable audio dissolve is observed when the Girl reads her newly written song. Instead of hearing how the Girl reads the lyrics aloud, the audience can listen to the Girl’s singing5. This moment accentuates the power of the Girl’s feelings and emotions associated with writing a song.
Once was released in 2007 as the low-budget independent film featuring the musicians instead of actors and actresses. In spite of the limited release, the musical attracted the wide audience and gained recognition while being awarded many international prizes. Being oriented to the target audience as intellectuals and artists interested in low-budget art-house production, the musical gained recognition among the professionals in the field because of the remarkable soundtracks.
The public’s interest in the musical depends on the quality of the music and songs presented in the film. Thus, the produced film met the audience’s expectations and became more popular among the public because of the recognition of the musical’s soundtrack.
Stressing on the musical’s soundtrack, it is necessary to pay attention to the style of used musical numbers and their role in the film. The musical numbers’ style in Once differs significantly from the distant classical framings used in Hollywood musicals. The shots used to introduce musical numbers do not differ from the usual shots used in the film to represent characters.
The musical pieces become part of the character’s everyday reality. Thus, the filmmakers aim to focus on the typicality of the characters’ actions and signing because the plot is based on demonstrating the street musicians’ activities.
Once (2006) directed by John Carney and featuring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova is not only the low-budget modern Irish musical produced to attract the audience interested in art-house films. The musical is unique about its hybrid genre connecting the folk and show sub-genres. Once is also interesting about its semantic elements and specific syntactic structure.
The presented couple supports the traditional plot aspects, and the observed opposition of values serves to reveal the themes of immigration and poverty in the musical. The musical numbers are integrated into the film’s plot to draw the audience’s attention to the characters’ feelings and tense emotions.
Works Cited
Altman, Rick. The American Film Musical. USA: Indiana University Press, 1989. Print.
Once. 2006. Web.
Footnotes
1 Once. 2006, Web.
2 Rick Altman, The American Film Musical (USA: Indiana University Press, 1989), 110.
3 Once, 2006.Web.
4 Rick Altman, The American Film Musical, 108-112.
5 Once, 2006. Web.